Los Banos Rotary Club History
Kaljian Talks Traffic Safety

C. T. Kaljian a director of the Merced County Traffic Safety Council, spoke at the Rotary Club luncheon Tuesday noon, explaining the work the Safety Council is endeavoring to do to decrease the number of traffic accidents in the county, and urging increased care and caution by al drivers as they traverse the state’s highways.

Kaljian said the Safety Council was created last year in response to appeals by President Truman and Governor Warren for a halt in the number of highway accidents on the nation’s highways. The Merced County Council was one of the first to be created in response to that appeal, and in its initial year it has been very active. The Council was largely responsible for getting state action to remedy the hazardous “death curve” on the Santa Clara county side of the Pacheco Pass; in remedying a hazardous condition at the Dos Palos “Y,” and at several other danger points throughout the county. It has also sponsored a continuous educational campaign among motorists, with the support of county newspapers and radio.

Last year, Kaljian said, there were 4,000 traffic fatalities and 80,000 more injured on California highways alone. One of the paramount reasons is the present inadequacy of the state’s highway system, which is entirely unable to accommodate the state traffic load. Some 5,000 miles of the state’s 13,800 miles of highway is only 18 feet in width. Legal width of a motor vehicle is eight feet, which means the driver has only a six-inch clearance on each side of his part of the roadway. This narrow width, Kaljian said, is definitely responsible for a large share of accidents.

Kaljian condemned the recent action of the state’s oil companies in blocking legislation that would provide funds for an improved system, and declared that their short-sighted and selfish action will definitely cost the lives of many Californians in this and future years. Trucking companies should, Kaljian emphasized, pay their share of highway construction and maintenance through an equitable gasoline tax that would benefit all in exact proportion to their needs and use of the highways.

The speaker complimented highway officers and judges of the county for their strict handling of drunken driving and reckless driving cases, and urged the public to give them their fullest cooperation.

May 20, 1947

---